D.A.
FRIEND
Free America
I’m going to call this my “Back Burner Bushmaster Build”. It’s a back burner project because I’ve got many things with higher priorities in front of it. However, I do want to PLAY with it from time to time and I’ll post progress as it happens.
I’m also going to post WHY I’m building a Stretched Pacer, and WHAT I INTEND to do with it. The quickest way to clear a cocktail party of Super Cub guys is to say you’re going to build a Stretched Pacer. You can do almost anything to a SC but mention a Stretched Pacer and its GAME ON.
Why am I building a SP? I worked in Dillingham during the summer of 1982. While waiting for a flight in Anchorage one evening, I saw Steve Bryant flying his Producer. In 1982, I had no idea that guys were stretching the PA22/20 even though Jake Bryant did the first one in the 50’s. There was a cop with a radar gun checking his speed each time on short final. There wasn’t any wind and the radar showed 32 MPH. Once I figured out what the heck it was, I thought that was the coolest answer to the restricted cargo space of a SC.
I’m a dyed in the wool SC guy, but there are purposes where I’d like more cargo space. It really doesn’t matter whether you’ve got a 4” wider cabin, or a PA14, or whatever, there still isn’t a lot of room in a Cub type. With a Pacer, the cabin is set up completely differently, and you have large doors on both sides. With a Tri Pacer, you have an additional baggage door at the right rear. Unless I’m mistaken, I don’t think the original Pacers have that baggage door although I could be wrong. A PA14 is a 4 place ragwing Piper and a PA22/20 is a 4 place ragwing Piper but the PA22/20 just SEEMS like more of a cargo plane than any of the Cub line.
What do I intend to use it for? I want to use it as a single place, single control remote country camping/hunting/building cargo plane based on Super Cub components. I’m thinking about flying it from a centered position with a stick, but it would be a LOT easier to just keep the left hand pilot seat and control wheel, we’ll see. The right hand seat can be made to be easily removable when you need to carry a passenger or a jump seat can be built for the cargo area if I go with a centered pilot position. I want to be able to carry full length 8’ building material inside the cabin so I intend to build hatch doors in the aft fuselage and possibly the bootcowl to help load the long material. I’ll run airline style seat tracks on the floor and on several positions on the sidewalls to tie down cargo and I’ll probably sew a cargo net together that clips into positions on the floor, walls and ceiling to isolate the cargo area from the pilot.
I’m also going to do a little re-trussing so that stock geometry SC parts can be used like gear and struts. I’ll also run the aileron cables up the struts so stock SC wings can be used. The SC tail feathers already bolt on to a Pacer. With that in mind, there shouldn’t be any custom fabricated parts except for the cabane vee. If I’m out having fun and end up having a little bit too much fun, all the parts are either stock SC or PA22/20 parts that should be available off the shelf.
I just made a deal for the remains of a Tri Pacer project and I’ll start taking pictures when I get it home.
Input always welcome.
I’m also going to post WHY I’m building a Stretched Pacer, and WHAT I INTEND to do with it. The quickest way to clear a cocktail party of Super Cub guys is to say you’re going to build a Stretched Pacer. You can do almost anything to a SC but mention a Stretched Pacer and its GAME ON.
Why am I building a SP? I worked in Dillingham during the summer of 1982. While waiting for a flight in Anchorage one evening, I saw Steve Bryant flying his Producer. In 1982, I had no idea that guys were stretching the PA22/20 even though Jake Bryant did the first one in the 50’s. There was a cop with a radar gun checking his speed each time on short final. There wasn’t any wind and the radar showed 32 MPH. Once I figured out what the heck it was, I thought that was the coolest answer to the restricted cargo space of a SC.
I’m a dyed in the wool SC guy, but there are purposes where I’d like more cargo space. It really doesn’t matter whether you’ve got a 4” wider cabin, or a PA14, or whatever, there still isn’t a lot of room in a Cub type. With a Pacer, the cabin is set up completely differently, and you have large doors on both sides. With a Tri Pacer, you have an additional baggage door at the right rear. Unless I’m mistaken, I don’t think the original Pacers have that baggage door although I could be wrong. A PA14 is a 4 place ragwing Piper and a PA22/20 is a 4 place ragwing Piper but the PA22/20 just SEEMS like more of a cargo plane than any of the Cub line.
What do I intend to use it for? I want to use it as a single place, single control remote country camping/hunting/building cargo plane based on Super Cub components. I’m thinking about flying it from a centered position with a stick, but it would be a LOT easier to just keep the left hand pilot seat and control wheel, we’ll see. The right hand seat can be made to be easily removable when you need to carry a passenger or a jump seat can be built for the cargo area if I go with a centered pilot position. I want to be able to carry full length 8’ building material inside the cabin so I intend to build hatch doors in the aft fuselage and possibly the bootcowl to help load the long material. I’ll run airline style seat tracks on the floor and on several positions on the sidewalls to tie down cargo and I’ll probably sew a cargo net together that clips into positions on the floor, walls and ceiling to isolate the cargo area from the pilot.
I’m also going to do a little re-trussing so that stock geometry SC parts can be used like gear and struts. I’ll also run the aileron cables up the struts so stock SC wings can be used. The SC tail feathers already bolt on to a Pacer. With that in mind, there shouldn’t be any custom fabricated parts except for the cabane vee. If I’m out having fun and end up having a little bit too much fun, all the parts are either stock SC or PA22/20 parts that should be available off the shelf.
I just made a deal for the remains of a Tri Pacer project and I’ll start taking pictures when I get it home.
Input always welcome.
